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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 9 Oct 2002

Vol. 554 No. 5

Written Answers. - UN Protocol.

Finian McGrath

Ceist:

469 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the UN Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict will be ratified by the Government in order that no person under the age of 18 may be recruited into the Defence Forces. [15460/02]

Seán Haughey

Ceist:

470 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the UN Optional Protocol on Children in Armed Conflict will be ratified by the Government in order that no person under the age of 18 may be recruited into the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15465/02]

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

471 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to a campaign to make the use of child soldiers in conflict illegal by raising the age of recruitment to 18 years; if the Government plans to ratify the UN optional protocol on this matter; and if the Government has plans to take other steps to encourage other countries to follow the same policy. [15466/02]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 469 to 471, inclusive, together.

The Government is committed to bringing to an end the use of child soldiers in contravention of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We urge all Governments and armed groups to adhere to the international humanitarian and human rights standards that protect the rights of children in conflict situations. Ireland has strongly supported international efforts to stop the use of child soldiers. In particular, Ireland has actively supported the Office of the Special Representa tive of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. Ireland is a member of an informal group known as the "Friends of the Special Representative", which has as its aims to support the work of the Special Representative and to promote measures for the protection of children in armed conflict.
The Government welcomes the campaign of the Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers to highlight the plight of the children who are involved in armed conflict and their efforts to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers.
The Government attaches great importance to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which is central to the protection and promotion of children's rights on a global level. The convention requires states parties to refrain from recruiting children under 15 into their armed forces and to ensure that children under 15 do not take direct part in hostilities. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which was approved in January 2000, provides greater protection to children in armed conflict. It prohibits the compulsory recruitment by states of persons below 18 years of age to their armed forces and states are also required to take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces under 18 years of age do not take part in hostilities. Under the optional protocol a state party is required to make a binding declaration upon ratification that sets forth the minimum age at which it will permit voluntary recruitment to its armed forces and a description of the safeguards it has adopted to ensure that such recruitment is not forced or coerced.
Ireland signed the optional protocol at the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000 and is currently in the process of ratifying it. Government approval is currently being sought to present a motion to the Dáil, which once passed, will allow Ireland to lodge an instrument of ratification with the United Nations.
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